DRUG-TEST QUESTIONS

If the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education is going to consider
adopting a student drug-testing program, it needs answers to a couple
of questions.

One is whether such programs, which have gained at least limited
approval in recent court rulings, are effective in reducing drug and
alcohol use among students. That question has provoked a great deal of
debate -- and not a lot of hard data. The only nationwide study to
date, the 2003 University of Michigan Drug Testing study, found little
difference between illicit drug use among schools that did and did not
require random testing. Advocates of student drug testing, however,
have criticized the study's methodology and pointed instead to
smaller-scale surveys that have found anecdotal evidence that testing
can significantly discourage drug use.

Testing proponents include the Office of National Drug Control Policy
and President Bush, who proposed in his State of the Union address to
add $23 million to a competitive grant program that supports student
drug testing in schools. This is an area where the president's
oft-stated preference for "science-based" solutions to problems would
be especially useful, since both sides of the testing debate can can
point to conflicting studies that don't, in the end, resolve anything.
Implementing a testing program requires money as well as manpower. It
shouldn't be done on a "can't-hurt, might-help" basis.

But even if there were conclusive evidence that random tests deter
drug use among students, that would still leave another question: Do a
majority of parents in Rowan County want this for their children? Do
they want schools to take on a primary role in drug interdiction as
well as education? Are they willing to put aside concerns about
privacy and individual rights to embrace random drug testing -- and,
if so, on what scale? Should testing be limited to athletes or others
involved in extracurricular activities -- which the Supreme Court has
held does not violate Fourth Amendment restrictions on illegal
searches? Or, to be fair as well as effective, should it be expanded
to cover all students -- even though such broad implementation almost
certainly would bring a court challenge?

Rowan County residents, like most other Americans, would agree that
drug and alcohol use among young people is a daunting problem. The
issue gained a much higher profile here recently, when a survey showed
that two-thirds of high school students believe drugs are a problem at
school and a third of middle-school students report having consumed
alcohol in the past 30 days. Those are stunning statistics. But this
isn't primarily a school or youth problem -- it's a communitywide,
adult-driven problem. Combatting it requires a multipronged effort
involving education, intervention, treatment, policing and parenting.

Some communities will decide that student testing should be a part of
their strategy. Others will decide their resources are better used
elsewhere. The school board wants to gather more information before it
moves any further with testing talk here. Unless that information
proves far more convincing than what's surfaced thus far, the board
should say no to testing and look for other ways to help drive down
drug use.

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